TransAsia Airways shareholders agree to dissolve airline (update)

Vincent Lin (林明昇, center)

Taipei, Jan. 11 (CNA) Shareholders of TransAsia Airways have endorsed the management's decision to dissolve the airline because of heavy debts and poor prospects for future operations.

A motion to endorse the shutdown was passed at a special shareholders meeting in Taipei on Wednesday after TransAsia executives abruptly announced Nov. 22 that they were closing down the airline.

The meeting also passed motions to delist the company's shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and to approve a severance plan for the airline's employees.

During the meeting, however, about 50 members of the airline's trade union gathered outside the Chientan Youth Activity Center venue in protest against what they said was an unfair process that did not allow some shareholders to vote.

Ting Wen-sheng (丁穩勝), a lawyer commissioned by the union, said another irregularity was that the ballot boxes were not displayed as empty before the voting started.

He also said that the three people elected to handle TransAsia's liquidation had received exactly the same number of votes, which indicated that it was all pre-arranged.

Meanwhile, the airline said it was regrettable that its chairman Vincent Lin (林明昇) and CEO Liu Tung-ming (劉東明) had not been able to reach a severance pay agreement with the trade union in the final round of negotiations on Tuesday.

It said all matters relating to its dissolution will now be handled by the three liquidators -- Su Sung-hui (蘇松輝), lawyer Lee Yueh-lin (李岳霖) and accountant Yao Wen-liang (姚文亮) -- since all its management positions had been dissolved after the shareholders meeting.

In the meeting, Lin said he would give up the dividends from the liquidation of his 2.238 million shares, which accounted for a 0.29 percent stake in the company.

The airline suffered losses of NT$2.2 billion (US$69 million) in the first three quarters of 2016 and it reportedly was unsuccessful in its efforts to find a buyer.